Tag Archives: Manchester City

Thomas Tuchel sweats over Edouard Mendy’s injury ahead of Manchester City clash

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Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel faces anxious wait to know if Edouard Mendy will be fit for the Premier League clash against Manchester City, saying it is a “race against pain and time”.

The shot-stopper missed Chelsea’s 3-0 away win over fierce rivals Tottenham with a hip injury.

And he’s due to miss Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie against Aston Villa too.

But tomorrow’s game is not the worry for Chelsea in terms of getting Mendy fit.

They have Kepa Arrizabalaga or Marcus Bettinelli to fill the hole left by the 29-year-old.

Saturday’s six-pointer against City, however, will be a concern for the Blues.

Champions League-winning boss Thomas Tuchel confirmed Mendy’s absence for Wednesday.

And says an appearance on Saturday against City depends on how much pain the keeper is in come training on Thursday.

The German said: “Mendy cannot play [against Villa]. He is not training so far.

“We will try to do everything for Saturday and to reintegrate him tomorrow in individual training and hopefully in Thursday’s team training but not yet.

“It’s a matter of the amount of pain and the loads that we have for the players and there was quite some intensive games.

“I think it’s possible [he could play against City] but it’s a race against pain and a race against time so let’s see.

“Hopefully he will be back in team training on Thursday and if this goes well he can be ready for Saturday but I don’t know right now.”

Barcelona design smart move to beat Chelsea, Man City, others to Inter Milan hotshot Lautaro Martinez

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Reports in Spain and Italy claim Barcelona are offering to double the salary Lautaro Martinez would get in a new contract with Inter to ease their move for the prized striker.

Chelsea and Manchester City are both tracking Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martinez but will have to fight off interest from Barcelona.

The 22-year-old is tied down until June 2023, but already, according to Football Italia, discussing an extension with possible raise of the €111m release clause after an excellent campaign.

He scored 16 goals with four assists in 31 competitive appearances, including five in six Champions League games.

According to Sport, negotiations are not going well, because Lautaro Martinez and his agent know full well there are several clubs ready to snap him up this summer, even for the release clause.

Barcelona are by far the favourites, ahead of their rivals, especially if they include Arturo Vidal and other players as part of the deal.

Reports in Spain suggest Inter are offering a €4m per season salary at San Siro in the new contract, but Barcelona are ready to double that.

At this stage, a renewal seems unlikely and the Nerazzurri are almost resigned to losing the striker, albeit at a massive profit.

Despite the interest, Martinez’s representative Alberto Yaque admits there has been no formal talks about his clients future.

Frank Lampard reveals what he told his players after Manchester City defeat

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Chelsea boss Frank Lampard assuaged the bitter feelings of his players after losing to Manchester City at the Etihad despite taking the lead in the first half of the encounter.

City came from behind to win 2-1 at the Etihad, with goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez following N’Golo Kante’s opener.

The Blues had never lost any of their away matches in this season’s Premier League.

Asked by Sky Sports what message he had for his players in the dressing room at full-time, Lampard said: “The fact that it hurts to lose any match, but even more when you’re not used to it. In the league, and with our away form, we’ve been winning for a long time.

“We’ve got to take the positives, and learn from the negatives. We need to look at that – but let’s go again.”

Lampard said it was a game of narrow margins, with City’s quality in attack the reason they emerged from the game as narrow victors.

Photo Credit: premierleague.com

Manchester City legend identifies Chelsea star Guardiola must stop to win clash at Etihad

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Shaun Goater has identified the key Chelsea player his side must stop to ensure the two-time reigning champions get back on track in the Premier League.

The Manchester City legend does see any of the Blues frontmen like Tammy Abraham, Christian Pulisic as a major threat Pep Guardiola should work on.

He pinpoints the brilliance of Jorginho as the major reason for the success of the London club so far this season.

The midfielder was much-maligned in his debut season at Stamford Bridge under Maurizio Sarri but Goater insists that the playmaker has become the number one man to stop this weekend.

“Jorginho has been brilliant. He is huge in the transition and how they play,” Goater, who was speaking on behalf of GentingBet, told football.london.

“When they transition the play from back to front he is critical during those moments. Man City must stop him because he provides the supply for Abraham and the wingers.

“He provides that directly but also indirectly as well. The pass he gives into the eight and ten then goes into the wide players and Tammy.

“It’s crazy because it looked like Chelsea fans didn’t like him a year ago. He looks really good in that role and position.”

Photo Credit: premierleague.com

Raheem Sterling equals Didier Drogba’s record, nets hat-trick as Manchester City crush West Ham (Match Report)

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Raheem Sterling was the hero of the day after recording a hat-trick as Manchester City defeated West Ham United 5-0 to get their Premier League title defence off to an impressive start.

The breakthrough came after 25 minutes, with David Silva playing in Kyle Walker, who cut the ball back from the byline for Gabriel Jesus to deftly flick in.

Kevin De Bruyne was a growing influence for City, and his penetrating run and pass set up Sterling to make it 2-0 six minutes after half-time.

Jesus thought he had scored a third for City, only for his goal to be disallowed after Sterling was adjudged to be offside in the build-up, making it the first decision to be overturned by a Video Assistant Referee in the Premier League.

The England winger chipped Fabianski to give City their third before substitute Sergio Aguero stroked home a penalty at the second attempt to ensure the Hammers were beaten.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side were not without their chances on an afternoon where VAR’s input was felt on numerous occasions. Diop went close with a headed effort while Chicharito and Manuel Lanzini also saw efforts well saved.

A match played in blustery conditions at London Stadium saw West Ham United’s first VAR check of the 2019/20 season made after seven minutes, after a coming together between Manuel Lanzini and Rodrigo in the City penalty area. The home players, and supporters, wanted a spot-kick, but the checks came back with a negative.

Riyad Mahrez proved to be a tricky option for the away side down the right-wing with the Algerian twice going close in the first period. An early shot was well-saved by the returning Fabianski before the winger pulled an effort wide midway through the first period.

Substitute Sergio Aguero added a fourth with a penalty after his first spot-kick was saved by Lukasz Fabianski but it was ordered to be retaken due to encroachment.

Sterling had the final say, beating Fabianski to score the first PL hat-trick on opening weekend since Didier Drogba for Chelsea in 2010.

Photo Credit: premierleague.com

Manchester City beat Liverpool to claim Community Shield (Match Report)

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Manchester City have retained the Community Shield they won last season, but this time around it was Liverpool who gave them a very good match which went into penalties after 1-1 draw .

The Premier League champions eventually beat the UEFA Chapions League winners 5-4 on spot-kicks.

City were the better team in the first half, but Liverpool ran them ragged in the second half and fully deserved Joel Matip’s equaliser.

City led through Raheem Sterling’s early goal, which was both well-worked and scruffy. Kevin de Bruyne found David Silva, who knocked the ball on for Sterling to blast home. His shot was straight at Alisson, but hit with such venom from close range he could not keep it out

The Guardiola-tutored side were much the better team in general play – but Liverpool created three good chances of their own, all falling to Mo Salah.

In the second half, Liverpool were all over the Premier League champions. Shortly after the commencement of the second half, Van Dijk hit the underside of the bar! Alexander-Arnold’s scruffy corner from the left bounced past everyone at the near post and was hooked towards goal by Van Dijk.

It beat Bravo, rebounded off the underside of the bar and bounced down onto the line. Van Dijk thought it was in; goal-line technology confirmed it was not.

In the 58th minute of the game, Mo Salah also hit the post. The Egyptian wriggled away from a couple of City players on the edge of the area and drove a low, left-footed shot through the legs of David Silva. Bravo was slightly unsighted and the ball rebounded off the outside of the post.

Sterling should have handed the Etihad club their second goal in the 61st minute when nhe had a great chance to do that. He was put through on goal by Walker, with all the time in the world to decide what to do. He couldn’t decide whether to shoot or give the goal to Walker; in the end he did neither and ran the ball straight into the loving arms of Alisson.

Liverpool got a deserved equaliser for Liverpool in the 77th minute when Henderson’s free-kick from a narrow position on the right skimmed off the head of somebody in the middle and came to Van Dijk beyond the far post. He lobbed it calmly back into the six-yard box, where Matip beat Bravo with a precise downward header.

From this point it was Liverpool all the way. But they were unable to get the wining goal no thank to City goalkeeper who kept his team in the match.

Even during the penalty shoot-out, Bravo saved Georginio Wijnaldum ‘s kick while City scored all their own kicks to hand the Premier League champions the Community Shield.

Photo Credit: Twitter/mancity.com/tv, liverpoolfc.com